Prince William seen as reformist in drive to modernize the monarchy

OTTAWA — How to modernize an institution rooted in the Middle Ages, one freighted with the titles, trappings and traditions of distant centuries?

That is the question that will face Prince William when he ascends the throne, most likely upon the death of his father, Prince Charles, who is first in the line of succession to the Queen.

The rules of succession highlight the monarchy's distance from today's Canada.

Succession is governed by the Act of Settlement (1701), a law that ensures that only Protestant descendants of Princess Sophia of Hanover can lay claim to the throne. Roman Catholics are specifically excluded from consideration. The same law removes from the line of succession any heir to the throne born out of wedlock or those who marry a Catholic.

(In the 2001 census, 43 per cent of Canadians identified themselves as Catholic.)

The law means William could not become king if Kate had been Catholic. He could, however, still become the sovereign if Kate practised Islam, Judaism or any other religion.

Meanwhile, the custom of male primogeniture, reflected in the same law, means that girls born to the couple will only inherit the crown if they do not have any living brothers — or dead brothers with surviving children.

It's hard to conceive of how such a legal provision could survive a challenge under today's Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Already, though, William and Kate have catalyzed change to the institution that is the monarchy.

In the weeks leading up to the royal wedding, the British government announced it would consult Commonwealth countries about reforming the laws of succession. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg told reporters in April that the existing rules on religion and gender seem "a little old-fashioned."

"Prince William and Catherine Middleton might have a baby daughter for instance as their first child," Clegg told the BBC. "I think most people in this day and age would think it's worth considering whether we change the rules so that that baby girl then could become the future monarch.

"I think that would be in keeping with the changes that have happened in society as a whole."

In the future, of course, William will have the ability to reform the monarchy still further, to mould it in his own reflection. And while no one knows exactly what William has in mind, his record to date suggests he is a reformist.

"I think William does seem to have his own ideas about what he wants to do with the royal institution," said Carolyn Harris, a monarchy expert at Queen's University.

"We may see the British monarchy becoming less ceremonial in some ways and more similar to the Scandinavian monarchies. I think just the way William is living his life now indicates he may be interested in a more streamlined monarchy that has fewer ceremonial elements and smaller households."

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Harris noted, now rent a farmhouse in Wales where William continues his work as an Royal Air Force search-and-rescue pilot. They live without a butler, a lady-in-waiting or other servants.

By contrast, Prince Charles employs a staff of 150, including chauffeurs, valets and chefs.

While guarded with the media, William seems to have inherited his mother's less formal, down-to-Earth approach to public life.

"I think she (Diana) really wanted William and Harry to experience ordinary life, to be resourceful and look after themselves," Harris said.

As a member of the Royal Family, Diana chafed at the stagnant role created for her — the quiet cuckquean of the future king — and spearheaded her own makeover of what Prince Philip once called "the firm." She took her children to McDonald's and to amusement parks; she hugged AIDS patients and lepers. Her compassion devalued the Royal Family's traditional reserve, long part of its mystique.

Even in death, Diana challenged the Royal Family's business-as-usual approach. On the day of Diana's funeral, under immense public pressure, the Queen broke with tradition and lowered the Union Jack to half-mast over Buckingham Palace.

The drive to modernize the monarchy gained speed in the years following Diana's death.

The Act of Settlement was challenged under human rights laws in both Canada and Britain, to no avail. In 2003, Britain's Fabian Society, a prominent left-wing think tank, conducted a yearlong commission of inquiry into the future of the monarchy and concluded that modern rules of succession should be enacted.

The commission also called for an end to the monarch's role as head of the Church of England.

The Labour government of then-prime minister Gordon Brown subsequently discussed reforms, but those efforts foundered, as did a private member's bill to change the rules of succession.

Robert Finch, chairman of the Monarchist League of Canada, has said he supports the move to update the Act of Settlement partly because those pushing for Canada to become a republic would "no longer be able to claim that the monarchy discriminates against Catholics."

In 2008, the three-centuries-old rules of succession came to bear on a Canadian for the first time.

That year, Montreal-born Autumn Kelly converted from Roman Catholicism to Anglicanism before marrying the Queen's grandson, Peter Phillips, who otherwise would have lost his position as 11th in line to the throne.

Their first child, Savannah, who was born on Dec. 29, 2010, holds dual British-Canadian citizenship and is now 12th in line to the throne, behind her father.